9,000 Days

"Out of the night that covers me..
      ...I'm unafraid, I believe."

These are the opening words from the song, "9,000 Days" by Overtone.  I know this is a soccer blog, but I saw the movie "Invictus" last night with my good friend, Lori.  From the trailers one would think it's simply a movie about rugby, of which I know only a little.  The movie is set against the 1995 Rugby World Cup that was held in South Africa. 
World championships are usually played in vacation spots around the world...Rome, London, Miami, Los Angeles, Sydney, etc...not against the backdrop of 9,000 Days of racism, brutality, and deep-seeded hatred.

Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned for 9,000 days in a small cell on Robben Island, was elected by a largely-black population only just afforded the right to vote.  Apartheid had been condemned by the world community, but convincing those who had lived freely and bound under that banner to accept the new idea of a "rainbow nation" was Mandela's undaunting task.  He was presented with a venue to prove his point to 43 million people...sports.

Using an almost all-white rugby team, the Springboks, Mandela sought to teach the divided nation that the only path to redeeming South Africa wouldn't be found in their own comfortable skins; they would have to set aside their attitudes of separation and become colorblind.
The white population saw Mandela's presidency as the end of their existence.  The black population, who were responsible for his ascendancy, saw his presidency as a chance for reciprocity against the tyranny they had experienced.  If both sides thought Mandela represented either, they underestimated their new leader.

Sports are polarizing; one side against another.  But sports can also be utilized to bring people together.  E pluribus unum...out of the many, one.  Mandela shunned the idea of the now-black sports authorities to forcefully integrate the Springboks, a symbol of Apartheid, and change their name and colors.  He was attempting to break the cycle of "us" against "them," knowing that if one side always attempted to marshal the other, the future of South Africa would be just like the past.  Instead, he convinced the authorities to trust him that the entire population would band together and support the Springboks in the World Cup.  He enlisted the help of Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar, needing a believer from "the other side" to infuse his idea of xolela...forgiveness.
Mandela gave Pienaar a copy of Invictus, the poem written by William Ernest Henley.  The poem had given Mandela resolve as he served his prison sentence on Robben Island.  

Invictus is Latin for "unconquerable."  The idea of using a venue of conquest to heal seems antithetical.  But in reality it was necessary to exorcise the demons of the past; Mandela's as well as the nation of South Africa.

Did it work?  Well, you will have to see the movie to find out.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.